Appointment of administrator and financial plan remain valid without meeting of apartment owners

01. April 2020

The set of measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the German Bundestag and Bundesrat passed last week, also includes changes to the Act on the Ownership of Apartments (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz – WEG).

The reason for these changes was the fact that the mandatory annual meeting of apartment owners could not take place due to the contact ban imposed for slowing the pandemic’s spread. As the appointment of the community of apartment owner’s administrator pursuant to Sec. 26 Para. 1 Sen. 1 WEG ends after a fixed period and the re-appointment requires a meeting of apartment owners, many communities of apartment owners were facing the potential loss of their administrator. In practice, a community of apartment owners without an administrator no longer has the power to act.

Term of the current administrator extended

The new regulation stipulates that the last appointed administrator shall remain in office until such time as he is dismissed or a new administrator is appointed. Should urgent measures to preserve the jointly owned property that cannot be delayed be necessary, the administrator can – as was the case in the previous legal situation – (have them be) implemented without priorly convening the meeting of apartment owners.

Financial plan remains in effect

Additionally, there was a risk that the community of apartment owner’s financing would not be secured without the convocation of the meeting of apartment owners and the decision on a new financial plan. Therefore, the last agreed-upon financial plan shall remain in effect until a new one has been resolved.

Online meeting not permissible

The law still requires meetings in person and only stipulates the continuation of the administrator’s appointment and the financial plan in case such a meeting cannot take place. However, online meetings of the community of apartment owners will not be legally introduced, but it is conceivable that the apartment owners prepare resolutions via video or telephone conference, which all owners can then pass unanimously by means of written resolution procedure.

Apart from that, any initially planned meeting of apartment owners should be convened as soon as the restrictions end.

This regulation ceases to be in force at midnight on 31 December 2021. The new administrator must be appointed at the latest on that date as well.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

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Dr. Ulrich Lienhard, Partner
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